Baling-press



UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ELVOOD BEADLE, OF CENTRE STAR, \T.AlAl\IA.

BALlNG-PRESS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 399,472, dated March12, 1889.

Application filed August 1888. Serial No. 281,971. (No model.)

To a]? 'IUZI/OTI'Z/ it may concern:

130 it known that 1, ELwooD BEADLE, of: Centre Star, in the county ofLanderdale and State of Alabama, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Presses for (ompressing and Baling (Iotton, I'Iay, &c.,and for other purposes; and 1' do hereby declare that the following is afull and exact description thereof reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon,making a part of this s iecification, in which- Figliire 1 is anelevation of my improved cotton- 'n'ess with the front of the press-boxopen ed by the remo val of the front board, and a portion of the frontbroken out to illustrate the working of the follower therein; Fig. 2, ahorizontal section in line .31: a: of Fig. 1; Fig. -3, a verticalsection in line 1 1 of same figure; Fig. 4, a sectional detail of theshifting bevel-gear, whereby the action of the leverscrews isautomatically actuated or reversed.

Similar numerals indicate like parts in all of the figures.

My invention relates to an improvement in presses for balin wtton andhay,and has for its object to .iacilitatc the movements of the press andto render thesalne automatic.

In the accompanyin drawings, 1 represents the bed of the press, made, asusual, strong and solid. 7

2 13 are the stamlards for the upright frame in which the press-box 1 isformed.

is the follower forthe press, made to work upward into the press-box orbale-box 4, between the four standards 2 2 2-5.

(5 l; are the upper beams extemling parallel with the base, and T 7 theMoss-beams on top of the press.

3 8 are iron tie-rods led from the base 1. up

overthe ends of the cross-beams T T, to clamp and secure the press andinsure the requisite strength in its construction.

9 is an upper press-bar or top plate fitted above the press-box, andwhich carries a heavy block or plunger, 10, adapted to drop into thepress-box when required. This upper press-bar, f admits, when elevated,of being moved out endwise upon the upper beams, which are extended forthe purpose, tothereby uncover and open fully the top of the press-boxin manner as has heretofore been practiced.

The open sides of the press or bale box 1 are closed, in the usualmanner, l) vheav vdetachable plates or boards 11. 11, fitted andconfined within and between the standards 2 2 and 3,so as to permit thefollower 5 to work up from below and the plunger 10 to move down fromabove into the space inclosed thereby, and within which the cotton, hay,or other material to be baled is compressed.

The follower 5 is mounted upon a crossbar, 12, whose projecting ends arehinged to the upper ends of the compressing arms or levers 123 3.Thelower ends of the compressing-arms are severally mounted, each uponan axle fitted with wheels 11 14. The lower end of each lever is forked,and the bearings for the axle are formed in the arms of the fork, whilea serew-threaded shaft. or endless screw, 15, is extended horizontallybetween the arms of the forkof each lever to rotate in bearings formedat one end on a cross-beam, 1(3, resting on the base within thestandards 2 2 and I) 3, and at the other in a suitable pedestal. oruprightbeari rig-plate, 17, mounted at the end of the base 1, as shownin Fig. 1.

A suitable nut, 18, formed in two divisions to be bolted together uponthe endless screw 15, is fastened securely upon each axle so as to befirmly united thereto, and a rotation of the screw in the one directionor the other will operate to work the nut back. or forth upon the screw,and thereby draw the lower end of the compressing-arm 13 to or carry itfrom the standards 2 and 3. AS thelower end of the compressing-arms 1313 are drawn toward the standards, their upper ends are forcedupward,carrying with them the follower 0, which will thus be moved upwith great power into the press box 1 to compress the material therein.As the lower ends of the compressing-arms are supported upon the wheels14 14., the operative screws 15 are relieved from all pressuretransversely to their length, while the wheels facilitate an easymovement of the arms under the action of'the screws. The two endlessscrews 15 15 are geared together by means of beveled gearwheels 1.) 19,fitted upon their inner ends, and similar beveled wheels, 21, upon theends of 3 5 the innerbearin g of the opposite screw.

a counter-shaft, 22, mounted in suitable bearings centrally between thestandards 2 and 3, at a right angle to the screws 15. This counter-shaft22 is adapted to have longitudinal 5 play in its bearings, and thebevel-wheels 20 21 thereon are so adjusted that when either one isbrought into gear with the two bevel-wheels 19 19 on the ends of thescrews the other shall be out of gear, the distance between the 10, twowheels being sufficient to permit both to stand out of gear with thewheels 19 19 when desired.

The counter-shaft 22 is fitted with a drivingpulley, 23, to receive abelt from the engine or motor, by which it is kept in constant rotationduring the operation of the press, and by a simple longitudinal movementof the counter-shaft. 22 in its bearings the rotation of the endlessscrews 15 15 may,without stopping the rotation of the counter-shaft, bereversed at will, by causing either the one wheel, 20, or the other, 21,thereon to engage the two wheels 19 1.) on the screws, or the movementof the screws may be arrested by throwing both of the wheels 20 and 21out of gear therewith.

The longitudinal movement of the countershaft to arrest or reverse themovements of the endless screws is produced automatically 0 by means ofa horizontal reversing-lever or in Fig. at, so that by swinging thelever 24 upon its pivot to the one side or the other the onebevel-wheel, 20, or the other, 21, will be thrown into gear with thebevel-wheels 19 of the screws, while by placing the reversing-lever inline with said screws, midway between the standards, both wheels will bethrown out of gear. The lever is normally held in this central positionby means of two lateral springs, 27 27, (see Fig. 2,) which arerespectively brought into play by a lateral movement of the lever ineither direction.

The outer end of the reversing-lever 24: is adapted. to drop into threeseveral notches, 28 29 30, (see Fig. 3,) formed in the upper edge of atransverse horizontal plate, 31, fitted to the outer face of thestandards 3 3, the lever engaging one of the outer notches, 28 or 30,when carried over to the one side or the other to bring the bevel-wheelsinto gear, or the 6oeentral notch, 29, when the wheels are out of Toarrest automatically the upward movement of the follower 5 of the press,a rod, 32, 1s fitted vertically in suitable eyes secured to one of thestandards 3, (see Fig. 3,) and its lower end is bent to pass under thenotch 28, while its upper end is bent to extend transits movement.

versely over the path of the cross-bar 12 of the follower in the pressat a point where it will be struck by said cross-bar and carried upwardtherewith when the compressingarms 13 13 have nearly reached the limitof their upward movement. The upward movement of the rod 32 thusproduced by the crossbar 12 will operate to lift the end of thereversing-lever 24: out of the notch 28, and the action of the spring 27will automaticallycarry the lever over to the central notch, 29, andthereby throw the bevel-wheels 20 21 out of gear with the wheels 19 andarrest the rotationof the screws 15, and consequently the movement ofthe compressing-arms 13.

To arrest the downward .movement of the follower 5, an angular lever ordog, 33, is pivoted against the face of the standard 3 nearest to thenotch 30 in position so that its upper end will extend laterally fromthe pivot under the notch and its lower end depend under the pivotnearly to the base 1. By swinging this lower end'or arm inward the upperend will sweep upward from the bot tom to the top of the not-ch30 andoperate to lift the end of the reversing-lever 2% out of the notch whenit is resting therein. This is accomplished automatically when thefollower 5 has reached its lowest position, and the lower ends of thecompressing-arms 13 13 are consequently in their extreme outwardpositions, by means of a rod, 34:, passing through eyes 011 thebed-plate 1 and extending from near the end of the endless screw 15 atthat end of the machine next to the notched plate 31 toward said plate,where it is attached to one arm of an angular or bell-crank lever, 35,(see Fig. 2,) pivoted upon the bed-plate 1, and whose opposite end iscoupled by a link, 36, to the lower end of. the angular lever 33, thelever 35 being so arranged that a pull upon the rod 34 will oscillatesaid lever in a direction which will cause it to swing the attached endof the lever 33 inward. The outer end of the rod 34 is bent upward (seeFig. 1) in position to be struck by the nut on the axle of thecompressing-arm 13 as the end of the lever, traveling outward,approaches the end of In the use of the press the counter-shaft 22 maybekept in constant rotation in the same direction, being geared for thepurpose with. any suitable motor by a band upon the pulley 23, or otherconvenient device. After the baling or press box at has been filled withthe cotton or other material to be baled or compressed it is closed bybringing the upper block, 10, into place over the top of the box. Theendless screws 15 15 are then set in motion by bringing the bevel-wheel20 on the rotating counter-shaft 22 into gear with the bevel-wheels 1919, carried by said screws. This is accomplish ed by swinging the freeend of the reversinglever 2 1 over into the notch 28 on the plate 31.The rotation of the screws 15 15 will cause the nuts 18 to travelthereon toward the standards 2 2 and 3 3, and in so IIO doing they willdraw the lower ends of the comp ressin g-a'rms 1 3 1. 3 inward and forcetheir upper ends upward, carrying with them the connecting cross-bar 12and the follower 5 thereon. lower 5, thus produced, will compress thecon tents of the pressbox 4 against the block 10 in the usual manner. Asthe bale is compressed in the box a, it is properly tied and secured inthe customary manner by means of cords or bands, which will retain it inits condensed form. So soon as the full compression is accomplished theengagement of the crossbar 12 with the upper end of the rod 32 (see Fig.3) will draw upon the rod and cause it to lift the end of thereversing-lever 24: out of the notch 28, and the lever will thereupon,under the action of the spring 27, be swung over into the middle notch,2.), and in its movement will throw the bevel-wheel out of gear with thewheels 19 1.), and thereby arrest the movement of the screws 15 andcompressii'ig-arms 13 13. By swinging the reversing-lever 21 over intothe notch the bevel-wheel 21 will be brought into gear with the wheels19 19, thereby reversing the movement of the screws so as to cause thenuts 18 to travel outward and lower the con'lpressingarms 13 13. hen thenuts are approaching the outer ends of the screws, the engagement of oneof said nuts with the upturned end of the rod Ill will draw said rodoutward, and thereby operate to oscillate the angular lever 33 and throwthe end of the reversing-lever out of the notch, so that the compressedspring 27 will come into play to carry said lever to the middle notchand throw the counter-shaft 22 out of gear with the screws 1515, so asto arrest their-further movement. \Vhen it is desired to furtherire-press a bale already compressed to the utmost by the upward movementof the colnpressing-arms 13 13, hooks i0 it) are provided at the ends ofsaid arms and made long enough to engage eyes t1 1-1 in the ends of thecross-bar U of the upper block, 10. By attaching said hooks to said eyesand reversing screws 15 15, so as to cause the arms 13 13 to descend, apowerful tension is brought to bear upon the upper block, 10, drawing ittoward the lower block or follower, 5, in the meantime made fast in thepress, and thereby compressing the interposed bale. To relieve thescrews 15 15 from undue strain,because of the upward pull thus createdthereon, screws ii 12 are fitted to work through the cross-beams 7 7 andbear upon the top of the cross-bar f), and these screws are turned downin. unison with the dowmvard movement of the bar to serve as auxiliariesto the action of the screws 15 15 in compressing the bale and to relievethe latter from strain.

This improved press, although especially adapted for conlpressing andbaling cotton, hay, (be, may also be employed, with obvious adaptationsthereof to the endin view, for use as a cider or grainpress, andsimilarpurposes.

The upward movement of the fol- I claim as my invention 1. Thecombination of the compressingarms, the cross-bar connecting their upperends, the follower on said cross-bar, the endless screws actuating saidarms, the bevelwheels upon the inner proximate ends of said screws, thedriving counter-shaft at a right angle therewith, the interposedadjustable bevel-gear, the reversing-lever controlling said gear, thelateral springs actuating said lever, and the plate having notchesengaging the free end of the lever, substantially in the manner and forthe purpose herein set forth.

The combination of the eon'rprcssingarms, the crossbar connecting theirupper ends, the followc; (:1 said cross-bar, the endless screwsactuating said arms, the bevelwheels upon the inner proximate ends ofsaid screws, the driving counter-shaft--at a right angle therewith, theinterposed adjustable bevel-gear, the reversing-lever controlling saidgear, the lateral springs actuating said lever, the plate havin notchesengaging the free end of the lever, the vertical reciprocating rodhaving a bent end underlying the notch in said plate which engages theend of the lever when the counter-shaft is geared to the screws to movethe follower upward, and the arm from said rod intersecting the path ofthe cross-arm carrying the follower, all substantially in the manner andfor the purpose herein set forth.

The combination, in a cotton or hay press, of the compressing-arms, thehorizontal cross-bar connecting their upper ends, the follower carriedby said cross-bar, the endless screws actuating said compressing-arms,the bevel-wheels upon the inner proximate ends of said screws, thedriving counter-shaft at a right angle therewith, the interposed adjustable bevel-gear, the reversing-lever controling said gear, thelateral springs actuating said lever, the plate having notches engagingthe free end of the lever, an angular lever pivoted to swing verticallyand having one arm underlying the notch in said plate that engages theend of the lever when the counter-sln'lft is geared to the screws tomove the follower downward, a second angular lever pivoted on thebed-plate to swing horizontally, a link coupling the two, and a rodextending from the free arm of said horizontal lever outward parallelwith the proximate endless screw and terminating in an arm in positionto be engaged by the lower end of the comp1.-essing-ar1ns traversingsaid screw, all substantially in the manner and for the purpose hereinset forth.

In testimony whereof Ihave signed myname to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

ETAVOOD BEADLE.

Witnesses:

A. W. PORTER, WM. 11. BnUNnIcE.

